Well, today is the big day! IKEA is coming somewhere between 12-3PM and after that I should be able to fast track myself to organizational and unpacked nirvana 😉 Getting in just under the wire of 2015.

The random firework has been going off since yesterday, so far nothing like the marathon that will come tonight. It is pretty slow on the work front so I spent an hour this morning moving all the boxes out of the way to give the IKEA people room to work.

I’ll be home tonight, doing my duty as pet protector. I have a friend coming by and we’ll have a pretty low key evening with an exceptionally fine Spanish cava and some good things to eat.

My mom really liked New Years Eve. With her love for fireworks, it was a time that we would gather in her apartment which had a view of the fireworks above the Space Needle and. We’d have a crazy selection of fingerfoods and champagne. Sometimes, it would just be us, other times we expanded the circle. It was always a good time. I think that is really the heart of any celebration, being with people you enjoy. I’d rather do that for a holiday than go to one of the wild parties that will be happening tonight.  Of course, having pets kind of impacts what sort of celebrating you do. The pets are fine with parties here. We’ve had 20 people in the house and they were perfectly well behaved.

I went to dinner last night in Alkmaar. I had missed it last week when I was under the influence of the dengue. We rescheduled and last night we had a build your own burrito dinner and lots of conversation. The burritos were still worse than Taco Bell. No fault of the hostess, simply the “Mexican” food ingredients here are really bad. This simply gave us more time to talk. It is funny to think sometimes that there are people who think that I have answers to questions that they wrestle with. I do the best I can with that, knowing that the answers that we all seek are hidden within ourselves. Next time, we will have dinner here and then go out late into the city. I still have alot to learn about living here 😉

I am listening to alot of Alison Krauss & Union Station these days. I remember watching the specials with my mom on PBS during their pledge drives. I find the music comforting and I am a big fan of the banjo work! And it suits my mood, as I find myself thinking about all of the things that I have learned about myself and the world around me this year. Some of those lessons were heart breakingly painful. And yet, I got out the crazy glue and put myself back together. The pieces that wouldn’t stay stuck in place, I had to trust other people to be there to hold their fingers over those places. Not sure I would have been able to accept that kind of care a few years ago. I can now.

I also faced some big fears this year and wow, do I have a little bit of a Wonder Woman attitude now about certain things. I also learned to place more importance on what is important to me and how do I want to cultivate those strengths and talents further? I’ve learned that I can take a two week vacation and I am ready to try for a three week one next year.

I went to three new countries for me this year. I think I need to try for four in 2016.

I’m wishing you a radiant 2016, full of dreams and hope! Thank you for inspiring me.